Mike Winkeljohn on Cormier’s chances against Jones: ‘Just by getting to Jon doesn’t win you the fight’

While Jon Jones already has his next opponent lined up, his coach, Mike Winkeljohn, is more than willing to discuss other hypothetical fights in the future, such as potential clashes with Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez.

Winkeljohn, who runs Jackson’s MMA alongside Greg Jackson, spoke with Australia’s Submission Radio, where he discussed the former Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix champion and whether his skills would be a good match against Jones’ reach.

“I think he’s very athletic and very strong and so yeah, he could [cause trouble for Jon,]” Winkeljohn told Submission Radio. “With that being said, then we’ll see who wins. Just because he got through once in a while and he will get through once in a while. He’s going to take a lot of damage on the way and he’s going to get worn down on the way, he might get knocked down on the way, but when he gets in there, oh well big deal. We saw what Jon did with Glover inside. It’s not the end of the world for Jon Jones. He’s very good inside, in the clinch, he can trip you from anywhere and he could hurt you from all kinds of positions. I think Cormier’s got a tough night ahead for him because of all the strikes that Jon has.

“Of course, you know Cormier is great. He can lift anybody, he’s got such a strong core and he’s always scary, but just by getting to Jon doesn’t win you the fight by any means.”

Jones had claimed several years back that he would not be long for the light-heavyweight division, and would eventually put on the weight and move to heavyweight. While he recently nipped any discussion about a potential move, coach Winkeljohn was happy to discuss a hypothetical match-up with champ Cain Velasquez.

“We’d definitely want him at the longer ranges. Inside Cain there’s relentless pressure, you come off his level then doing what he’s doing, pushing him up against the cage. But again, Jon’s an anomaly in that all these things that Cain’s been used to be doing with people with his pressure, he’s just going to fall into a lot of traps that Jon has and he’s a real strong guy, if Jon gains some weight before he gets into the heavyweight division, it’s that would be a hard fight, but Jon would find a way to win.”